The present invention relates in general to virtual private networking, and, more specifically, to secure data network communications between a wireless networking device and an enterprise server within a private, wired data network.
Large and small enterprises (such as businesses, government, non-profit institutions, and other organizations) increasingly rely on digital data communication networks to perform essential tasks. Private computer networks are usually deployed within the enterprise to provide access for enterprise personnel to resources necessary to perform their data processing tasks.
Many data-processing related tasks may be performed at non-enterprise locations, e.g., employees working offsite at a customer location or while traveling to or from such sites. Some enterprise networks may provide remote access of certain network resources to offsite employees. Due to data security concerns when a data network is opened up to outside access, one common access method is via dial-up networking which uses the public telephone network to tie-in to relatively controlled (i.e., secure) digital networks. However, the convenience, availability, and speed of dial-up access are limited. Therefore, public Internet connections are sometimes used. To increase security of data transport over the public data network, virtual private networking (VPN) techniques can be employed to create a secure “tunnel” via the Internet, provided that a wire line connection to the Internet is available.
The availability and use of wireless networking has proliferated as a result of various standards being adopted. Wireless systems include wireless local area networks (e.g., 802.11 networks), wireless cellular systems (e.g., CDMA) and general packet radio service (GPRS). Current wireless systems address the security of data within the wireless network, but have not provided end-to-end protection when sending network packets between a mobile wireless device to a private enterprise network when both a wireless and wireline link are required.